Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede.

With our current ailing economy, there are sacrifices one has to make this holiday shopping season. Unfortunately, the temporary maintenance worker at the Valley Stream, Long Island Walmart didn’t think he would be the sacrificial lamb of the post-Thanksgiving consumer onslaught. How can people be this stupid? Where is the common sense and decency that is our responsibility as a people to one another? Is this the change for which we fought so hard? Obviously our right to consume has consumed us. My heart goes out to the worker’s family and friends and the poor pregnant woman who miscarried after also being pushed to the ground and trampled underfoot.

After having my appendix removed and being delirious in an oxygen tent with 106°+ fever, I woke up thinking I was dead. Next to me, watching me sleep, was Emmett Kelly, Jr. with his sad clown face. I remember saying, ” Hey, you’re Emmett Kelly, Jr.” His eyes popped out and he almost smiled. After getting me up for my first walk, we went to the playroom and played with the blocks for a while and then he went to visit other children.

Terrorists like those who perpetrated today’s coordinated attacks around the city of Mumbai are no more friends to innocent Muslims than they are to innocent Americans and Israelis, Christians and Jews. Let us resolve to never be the useful idiots of these or any other terrorists – and we will prevail. – Heather Robinson

Heather Robinson is an independent journalist who specializes in writing about the Middle East, profiling offbeat characters and humanitarians (not always mutually exclusive), and helping readers happily navigate life. A committed vegetarian, she aspires to live close to the land one day, but for now enjoys living in the heart of New York City, where her reporting has included everything from a rundown of NYC’s most noteworthy dating services to the best outlets to do some good as a volunteer. In her spare time she enjoys reading, film, jogging, yoga, and imitating people.